A little more perspective, please, Jon.

Russell concedes in 18th, urges prayers for winner

Republican Jon Russell, who made a strong showing in the competitive 18th District primary race, kept his fingers crossed until Friday, thinking he still had a chance to edge top fund-raiser Ann Rivers for the second spot. But on Friday, trailing by 1,400 votes, he conceded.

Russell, a Washougal city councilman, did not endorse either Rivers or Democrat Dennis Kampe, who took the top spot. Instead, he congratulated them both and issued this statement:

"I encourage my supporters to lift them up in prayer, to be equipped to meet the extreme pressure they will face, if elected in November. I also ask you to hold the winning candidate accountable to abide by the Founding Fathers' view of the Constitution on every vote."

Russell noted that he spent just $16,000 and managed to win 7,293 votes, while Rivers,a Republican political consultant, raised more than $60,000 and received just 8,729 votes.

Kathie Durbin

It seems just a little odd to me that neither Russell nor the paper mentioned the $30,000 he raised and spent along with the 6 month advantage of campaigning for the 3rd Congressional seat that Russell had over Rivers.

So, in reality, Russell spent $46,000 for this effort and campaigned for 6 months longer than Rivers.

Now, I understand why Russell wouldn't want to mention that, since his congressional race was a train wreck from the get go and his state race was a disaster.

But at the end of the day, Russell effectively campaigned for FIFTEEN MONTHS and spent a fair amount of money only to wind up with this typical-for-Russell abysmal outcome.

Perspective, Jon. It's what's for dinner.

Face it, Jon, you got beat by a superior candidate. A superior fundraiser (How embarrassing is it that even after running for Congress you couldn't raise any money?) and someone who didn't have to lie about her education; superior to yours as it is; or what her spouse was as opposed to you calling your wife a "doctor."

YOU had EVERY advantage when Rivers started to campaign, in everything from money spent to name familiarity to the fact that you were an elected city councilman who could, and did, use their position as a campaign prop.

And you lost anyway.

You need to learn the fine art of introspection. You didn't lose because Rivers had the money.

You lost because of who you are and what you did during the course of the campaign. It was, in fact, yours to lose and you pulled it off brilliantly.